MBE2012
Inside the Industry: Turner Construction School for Construction Management
R
uby Jones began her career at Turner
Construction for 14 years ago at the
CenturyLink Stadium project in Seattle.
Ruby developed and managed a compre-
hensive outreach pro-
gram to the minority
business community that
resulted in utilizing 115
MWDBE subcontractors
on that project alone.
Ruby developed initia-
tives on the CenturyLink
Field project that have
been standardized on all
subsequent Turner projects.
“What I’ve found over the years is that
most small business owners, know the
field side,” she says. “It’s the business
side that they lack and it’s very competi-
Jones’ vision for local subcontractors
is that “second tier” companies will be
able to move up to the “first tier.” In
other words, she wants to help provide
small contractors with the tools to nego-
tiate and contract directly with compa-
nies like Turner.
Turner has a national goal of subcon-
tracting 20 percent of all subcontracted
work to minority and women owned
businesses. When negotiating contracts,
Jones says her company is looking for
performance, above all else.
“We’re looking for capacity and
whether they’ve done this type of proj-
ect before,” she said.
“We need to reflect the community
where these projects are built – our
clients believe it, we believe it, and to
me, it’s a no-brainer.”
tive out there.” Jones says she has a per-
sonal mission to help remove barriers to
minority employment in the construc-
tion trades; in this she is inspired by
When awarding contracts,
Jones says her company is
looking for performance,
above all else
memories of her great uncle,– a general
contractor in 1960s Waco, Texas – expe-
rience social inequities in the construc-
tion industry because he was an African-
American.
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Page 8 • Minority Business Enterprise • The Portland Skanner • September 26, 2012